NBC 5 Chicago (WMAQ-TV)

Overview

NBC 5 Chicago (WMAQ-TV) is an NBC owned-and-operated television station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, part of NBCUniversal Local. It operates as a duopoly with Telemundo Chicago (WSNS-TV), broadcasting from NBC Tower in downtown Chicago.

History

First aired Oct. 8, 1948, as WNBQ, NBC's third owned-and-operated television station and the first full-time color television station in the country. Renamed WMAQ-TV in August 1964. NBCUniversal became a Comcast subsidiary following FCC and Department of Justice approval of the Comcast-NBCUniversal deal, completed Jan. 28, 2011. On June 29, 2026, Comcast announced plans to spin off NBCUniversal, including European broadcaster Sky, into a new independent publicly traded media company, separate from Comcast's broadband and wireless business; the separation is expected to complete within about a year. This follows Comcast's late-2025 spinoff of most of its cable networks, including CNBC and MSNBC, into the separate company Versant.

Notable works

Provides 41 hours of local news and programming weekly, including the NBC 5 Investigates and NBC 5 Responds franchises.

Key personnel

President and General Manager: Kevin Cross (in role since June 2021)
Chairman, NBCUniversal Local: Valari Dobson Staab
CEO-designate, NBCUniversal (post-spinoff): Mike Cavanagh

Audience

Chicago-area viewers, the nation's third-largest television market.

Location and contact info

Address
454 N. Columbus Drive
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone
312-836-5555
Website
https://www.nbcchicago.com